The present invention relates to a method of producing spray dried aqueous-dispersible sterol formulations, in particular a method for producing dispersible .beta.-sitosterol via a spray drying process.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,502,045, 5,578,334 and 5,244,877, it is known that consumption of .beta.-sitosterol is known to reduce cholesterol levels in the blood stream. Presently, .beta.-sitosterol is incorporated in foods as an ingredient of the food while it is being prepared. While this is effective in producing foods with beneficial effects, the consumer is limited to those foods in which the manufacturers have decided to incorporate the .beta.-sitosterol.
It would be highly desirable to provide .beta.-sitosterol in a convenient ready to consume form in which consumers could apply to food just prior to eating. A particularly convenient form would be a single serving packet of .beta.-sitosterol similar to those that are currently available for artificial sweeteners. The difficulty in providing .beta.-sitosterol in this form is that it is difficult to separate the active ingredient from other sterols, namely stigmasterol, campesterol and the like.
Attempts at solving this problem are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,881,005 and 4,195,084 in which water dispersible sitosterols are formed by mixing with an excipient and a suitable surfactant. While this disclosure produces a water dispersible sitosterol, it would be highly advantageous to improve the water dispersibility of the .beta.-sitosterol, since this is believed to be the more effective form as a cholesterol lowering agent.